Rating:  Summary: Good Review: This is a solid thriller, and probably the best I've read since Craig Furrnas' THE SHAPE. Murder, mayhem, intrigue. What more can you ask!
Rating:  Summary: Disappointing Review: So sorry. Usually, I love this author but this novel was a major disappointment for me. Web, the main character was boring and the book way too long.
Rating:  Summary: Tough to get through Review: I was very excited for this book and from the inside flap I thought it would be an exciting book. I was wrong. The story seemed very slow moving to me and I think that was because there was not a lot of dialogue in the book. The pages seemed to take forever to get through. Baldacci is a good writer, almost any other writer and I would have put this one down before finishing. The bad guy seems a bit far-fetched to me and I could have done without all the psychology stuff. Someone asked for my recommendation on this after I finish, I don't think I will be recommending this one. If you want to read a good Baldacci read "The Winner" or "Wish You Well."
Rating:  Summary: Recovering from Abuse, Deadly Risk-Taking and Revenge! Review: Caution: The Last Man Standing is not for the squeamish or those who have nightmares about what they read. The book has many scenes of extreme violence and mayhem aimed at good guys and bad. The book's language is also laced with virtually every common swear word that you know. What differentiates Last Man Standing from the standard shoot-em-up thriller is that Mr. Baldacci explores the mind as much as he does the physical. Providing that context makes the book more intense, meaningful, and complex. The book's hero, Web London, is also someone you will find interesting and admirable. At his job as a Hostage Rescue Team assaulter for the FBI, he is bold, brave, and extremely capable. But, it has come with a price. He has an unattractively reconstructed face from wounds that makes him seem like Frankenstein to some, a body covered with bullet scars, and no family life. As you will learn in the book, he also had a trouble childhood that makes personal connection seem risky to him. So, his fellow team members and their families have become his family. Imagine, then, the blow that comes when the six other assaulters are all mown down by machine gun fire during a raid on what was thought to be a drug organization's accounting operation. What makes it worse is that he froze at the start of the assault, or he would be dead with them. Imagine the guilt! To make matters worse, he is suspected of either being a coward or having been paid off. Life gets worse. It becomes apparent that someone has been leaking confidential FBI information, or this slaughter could not have occurred. Who is it? Why would they want to wipe out a hostage rescue team? How was it accomplished? These are just some of the many mysteries that are brought forth. Soon, others are dying in a pattern that seem to tie back to the escape of Ernest B. Free (leader of the Free Society) from prison. Free had been the cause of the crisis that had led to the death of a little boy hostage in the assault that had cost Web London his face. Mr. Baldacci has a strength as a story-teller in that he saves up lots of revelations for you, and deals them out frequently . . . like discount tickets to return to a theme park. This quality first becomes clear at page 99, so keep going in the beginning if you are wondering why people have liked this book. The surprises come more frequently after that. So you will want to keep turning the pages. As the story evolves, Mr. Baldacci also provides the reader with information that the FBI doesn't have so that you can appreciate the conflict more as it develops. You will know who did what and why long before the end of the book, but the resolution of the conflict will be interesting enough that you will want to continue to the end. The book's weakness is that the writing could have been tightened up quite a bit. There are about 200 pages of extra material in this book that should have been edited out. One of the problems of becoming a best-selling author is that you get too much power over the editors, and the amount of editing declines. With proper editing, this book could have been one of the top thrillers of all time. Without the editing, a clever concept, interesting hero, and entertaining story are allowed to clank along awkwardly for long sections where neither character nor story development occur. Mr. Baldacci, less is sometimes more . . . especially in writing! Why do you do the work that you do? What kind of family life do you want to have? If things aren't the way you would like them in your work or family life, why aren't you changing them?
Rating:  Summary: Last man standing or so you think Review: I found this book confusing. It never explained some of the characters fully. After I got used to that I read it all in one sitting. I enjoyed it beleive it or not. I did not find it very beleivable but still enjoyed it
Rating:  Summary: A Disappointingly Weak Effort Review: Having read all of Baldacci's books, I looked forward to another great read, but ended up suprisingly disappointed at this weak effort. It seems that Baldacci packed as many story lines into this one as he could possibly think of -- which were both uninteresting and unbelievable -- then expounded on them in repetitious detail (seemingly to show off how much he knows about so many things), only to have them all come together in an all-to convenient and unconvincing ending. Even more disappointing were the 2-dimentional characters and equally flat dialog. It's hard to believe that this is the same author who penned such rich characters, settings, and plots in his other novels. I only hope his future efforts return to prior form. Skip "Last Man Standing" and wait for the quality stories we have come to expect from Baldacci. In the meantime, try reading Vince Flynn, starting with "Term Limits" ... you won't be disappointed.
Rating:  Summary: 4 1/2 Review: Baldacci returns to his starting form thriller, but this time he throws in a little more emotion and feeling and takes away a little more action.
Web London is a 37-year-old HRT specialist for the FBI. He is well respected and thought of as a hero. On his latest mission this all changes. He has unknowingly led his squad of 6 into an ambush and they are all killed. He survived. The bad thing is, he froze before entry and he doesn’t know why. This squad included his many good friends. Few know the truth, but most look at him as somewhat of a coward, including the media. His personal job now is to find out who was behind this ambush. Was it a group of neo nazis? Could it have been the local drug kingpin? Many different issues are touched on in this well-rounded thriller. The character study of Web London is lengthy and in depth. Yes, in this thriller Baldacci gets more touchy-feely than his other thrillers, but this also is a bonus in that it adds depth --great depth-- to the character. The challenges of the HRT (hostage rescue team), of the FBI are touched on and quite interesting. A satisfying story with some unique characters. Highly recommended for Baldacci fans as well as thriller fans.
Rating:  Summary: One of his Best Review: I have enjoyed all of David Baldacci's books, this one is one my favorites by far. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, he changed things. The characters were likeable and believable I couldn't put it down. Although, the ending was a littledisapointing, I hope one day he will continue the storyline, of Web London. I look forward to his next book.
Rating:  Summary: MACHO MAN !!!!!! Review: This read was definitely for the gun-history and gun-loving group. The story was just a side track; the real story was about para-military and the macho men. The story was unbelieveable and made no sense. I want my money back!!! However, the ending was great. Look for another book about the characters left standing.
Rating:  Summary: The Best Baldacci Yet! Review: Not many writers actually improve with time but Mr. Baldacci certainly has. I greatly enjoyed his earlier works, especially Total Control, but Last Man Standing is his best to date. I look forward to his next.
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